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Noel Hynd

Goodreads author profile

born

in New York, The United States

gender

male

genre

Mystery & Thrillers, Literature & Fiction, Horror

member since

November 2008

About this author

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I've been a published novelist for longer than I care to admit, since 1976. I'm frequently asked, however, how I first got published. It's an interesting story and involved both Robert Ludlum and James Baldwin, even though neither of them knew it --- or me --- at the time.

My first agent, a wonderful thorughly perofessional gentleman named Robert Lantz was representing Mr. Baldwin at the time. This was around 1975. Balwin, while a brilliant writer, had had some nasty dealings with the head of Dell Publishing. Dell held Jimmy's contract at the time and he could not legally write for anyone else until he gave Dell a book that was due to them. Nonetheless, he refused to deliver a manuscript to Dell and went to Paris to sit things out.

The boo...more I've been a published novelist for longer than I care to admit, since 1976. I'm frequently asked, however, how I first got published. It's an interesting story and involved both Robert Ludlum and James Baldwin, even though neither of them knew it --- or me --- at the time.

My first agent, a wonderful thorughly perofessional gentleman named Robert Lantz was representing Mr. Baldwin at the time. This was around 1975. Balwin, while a brilliant writer, had had some nasty dealings with the head of Dell Publishing. Dell held Jimmy's contract at the time and he could not legally write for anyone else until he gave Dell a book that was due to them. Nonetheless, he refused to deliver a manuscript to Dell and went to Paris to sit things out.

The book was due to The Dial Press, which Dell owned. Baldwin was widely quoted as saying....and I'm cleaning up the quote here, "that he was no longer picking cotton on Dell's planatation."

The book was due to The Dial Press. The editor in chief of The Dial Press was a stellar editor who was making a name for himself and a fair bit of money for the company publishing thriller-author Robert Ludlum. A best seller every year will do that for an editor. Anyway, Baldwin fled New York for Paris. The editor followed, the asignment being to get him to come happily back to Dial. As soon as the editor arrived, Baldwin fled to Algeria. Or maybe Tunisia. It hardly mattered because Baldwin was furious and simply wouldn 't do a book for Dell/Dial. The editor returned to NY without his quarry. Things were at a standstill.

That's where I entered the story, unpublished at age 27 and knowing enough to keep my mouth shut while these things went down. I had given 124 pages of a first novel to Mr. Lantz ten days eariler. Miraculously, his reader liked it and then HE liked it. It was in the same genre that Ludlum wrote in and which the editor at Dial excelled at editing and marketing.

My agent and the editor ran into each other one afternoon in July of 1974 in one of those swank Manhattan places where people used to have three martinis for lunch. The agent asked how things had gone in Europe. The editor told him, knowing full well that the agent already knew. The next steps would be lawyers, Baldwin dragged into US Courts, major authors boycotting Doubleday/Dell, Dial, maybe some civil rights demonstrations and.......but no so fast.

Mr. Lantz offered Dial the first look at a new adventure/espionage novelist (me). IF Dial wanted me after reading my 124 pages, he could sign me, but only IF Baldwin was released from his obligations at Doubleday. I was the literary bribe, so to speak, that would get Jimmy free from Dial. It seemed like a great idea to everyone. It seemed that way because it was. Paperwork was prepapred and paperwork was signed. Voila!...To make a much longer story short, Dial accepted my novel. The editor instructed me on how to raise it to a professional level as I finished writing it over the next ten months. I followed orders perfectly. I even felt prosperous on my $7500 advance. He then had Dial release Mr. Balwin from his obligation. Not surpringly, he went on to create fine books for other publishers. Ludlum did even batter. Of the three, I'm the pauper but I've gotten my fair share and I'm alive with books coming out again now in the very near future, no small accmplishment. So no complaints from me.

That''s how I got published. I met Ludlum many times later on and Baldwin once. Ludlum liked my name "Noel" and used it for an then-upcoming charcter named Noel Holcroft. That amused me. I don't know if either of them even knew that my career had been in their orbits for a month 1975. They would have been amused. They were both smart gifted men and fine writers in dfferent ways. This story was told to me by one of the principals two years later and another one confirmed it.

Me, I came out of it with my first publishing contract, for a book titled 'Reve(less)

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Noel Hynd's Books

Average rating: 3.55 · 2,107 ratings · 254 reviews · 29 distinct works · Similar authors

	Conspiracy in Kiev (The Russian Trilogy #1) 3.39 of 5 stars 3.39 avg rating — 563 ratings — published 2008 — 7 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Midnight in Madrid (The Russian Trilogy #2) 3.34 of 5 stars 3.34 avg rating — 428 ratings — published 2009 — 7 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ghosts 3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 avg rating — 262 ratings — published 1993 — 6 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Countdown in Cairo (The Russian Trilogy #3) 3.73 of 5 stars 3.73 avg rating — 176 ratings — published 2009 — 8 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Room For The Dead 3.49 of 5 stars 3.49 avg rating — 130 ratings — published 1994 — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hostage in Havana (Cuban Trilogy, #1) 3.42 of 5 stars 3.42 avg rating — 120 ratings — published 2011 — 5 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Cemetery Of Angels 3.69 of 5 stars 3.69 avg rating — 96 ratings — published 1995 — 6 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Lost Boy 4.04 of 5 stars 4.04 avg rating — 57 ratings — published 1999	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Flowers from Berlin 3.81 of 5 stars 3.81 avg rating — 58 ratings — published 1985 — 7 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Enemy Within 3.5 of 5 stars 3.50 avg rating — 54 ratings — published 2006 — 7 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Series by Noel Hynd

The Russian Trilogy (3 books)
by Noel Hynd (Goodreads Author)
3.423307626392459 of 5 stars 3.42 avg rating — 1,167 ratings

The Cuban Trilogy (3 books)
by Noel Hynd (Goodreads Author)
3.510204081632653 of 5 stars 3.51 avg rating — 147 ratings

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Conspiracy in Kiev (Mystery & Thrillers)

1 chapters — updated Nov 29, 2008 02:02pm

Description: This is the first book of a trilogy of spy thrillers from Zondervan/HarperCollins.

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Flowers from Berlin

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Batman: Dark Victory

by Jeph Loeb

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First Stop in the New World: Mexico City, the Capital of the 21st Century

by David Lida

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Noel Hynd said: "Just received this as a gift. I'm looking forward to it. "

Dec 28, 2008 01:18pm · see review

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Noel Hynd rated a book 5 of 5 stars Flowers from Berlin by Noel Hynd (Goodreads Author)	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Noel Hynd rated a book 5 of 5 stars Brutes, Beasts and Human Fiends by Alan Hynd	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Noel Hynd rated a book 5 of 5 stars Countdown in Cairo (The Russian Trilogy #3) by Noel Hynd (Goodreads Author)	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Noel Hynd recommended Midnight in Madrid (The Russian Trilogy #2) to Andersen Prunty Midnight in Madrid (The Russian Trilogy #2) by Noel Hynd (Goodreads Author)	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 27, 2009 03:12am · like
Noel Hynd liked Linda B's review of Midnight in Madrid: " I get so excited when I find a great book by an author I have not read before! Noel Hynd’s book Midnight in Madrid, one of The Russian Trilogy, was so good I didn’t want the book to end. The book has political intrigue, non-stop action, historical... " Read more of this review »
Dec 21, 2009 12:23am · see review

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